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Apple Doesn't Want You to Know How Many iPhones It's Sold

Apple has asked a judge to keep its sales data private during court proceedings Friday in its patent lawsuit against Samsung.

Phil Shiller, Apple’s Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing, is on the witness stand Friday. Samsung waited into late Thursday evening to reveal that it plans to use the documents in Friday’s proceedings while cross-examining Shiller -– documents that Apple would prefer not go public.

The sales summaries include information for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, tracking studies from the second quarter of 2011, and buyer surveys from last year.

Apple traditionally reports sales data for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch as a whole during its quarterly earnings reports.

The data in question would presumably break down those sales numbers by individual product, revealing more information about sales than has previously been available.

Apple filed two requests to keep the documents sealed commenting "Without further action, these highly confidential exhibits will be publicly disclosed causing severe harm to Apple."

If the court refuses to seal the documents, Apple has requested for a 5-day stay on making those documents public.

Apple vs. Samsung is currently underway in a Federal courthouse in San Jose. The case is to determine if Samsung’s range of smartphones are designed so similar to the iPhone that they are infringing on Apple patents.

What do you think is contained in Apple's sale data that it is eager to keep private? Let us know your take in the comments.

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